RISE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5613 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow qualified entrepreneurs to temporarily defer Federal student loan payments after starting a new business. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 15, 2020 Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow quali- fied entrepreneurs to temporarily defer Federal student loan payments after starting a new business. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Relief and Investment 4 for Student Entrepreneurs Act’’ or the ‘‘RISE Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFERMENT OF FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PAY- 6 MENTS FOR QUALIFIED ENTREPRENEURS. 7 Section 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(f)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5613 IH (1) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara- 2 graph (A)(ii); 3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 4 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) 7 and (B), in the case of a deferment described 8 in paragraph (2)(E), shall not accrue.’’; 9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 10 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 11 at the end; 12 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 14 (C) by adding at the end the following new 15 subparagraph: 16 ‘‘(E) subject to paragraph (5), not in ex- 17 cess of 3 years during which the borrower is a 18 qualified entrepreneur.’’; and 19 (3) by adding at the end the following new 20 paragraph: 21 ‘‘(5) DEFERMENT FOR QUALIFIED ENTRE- 22 PRENEURS.— 23 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED ENTRE- 24 PRENEUR.—For the purpose of this subsection, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5613 IH the term ‘qualified entrepreneur’ means a bor- 1 rower who— 2 ‘‘(i) receives a degree from an institu- 3 tion of higher education during the 10-year 4 period ending on the date on which the 5 borrower requests a deferment under para- 6 graph (2)(E); 7 ‘‘(ii) registers at least 1 business enti- 8 ty in a State during the 18-month period 9 ending on the date on which the borrower 10 requests a deferment under paragraph 11 (2)(E); 12 ‘‘(iii) raises capital investment of not 13 less than $15,000 for such business entity; 14 and 15 ‘‘(iv) has an outstanding balance of 16 principal and interest on a loan made 17 under this part of not less than $5,000. 18 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM EMPLOYEE REQUIRE- 19 MENT.—A borrower granted deferment under 20 paragraph (2)(E) shall not be eligible to con- 21 tinue such deferment unless, on the date that is 22 1 year after the date on which such deferment 23 is granted, the borrower— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5613 IH ‘‘(i) employs at the business entity de- 1 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) not fewer 2 than 1 full-time employee who is not the 3 borrower or relative of the borrower; and 4 ‘‘(ii) pays such employees at a rate 5 not less than the minimum wage pre- 6 scribed by the State or locality in which 7 the business entity is located.’’. 8 SEC. 3. LOAN CANCELLATION FOR ENTREPRENEURS. 9 Part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) is further amended by 11 adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘SEC. 460A. LOAN CANCELLATION FOR ENTREPRENEURS. 13 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au- 14 thorized to carry out a program of canceling the obligation 15 to repay a qualified loan amount in accordance with sub- 16 section (b) for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal 17 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans made under this part 18 for any borrower who— 19 ‘‘(1) for not less than a 3-year period and not 20 more than a 10-year period ending on the date on 21 which the borrower requests a cancellation under 22 this section, has owned and controlled a qualified 23 HUBZone small business concern (as determined by 24 the Administrator of the Small Business Administra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5613 IH tion), which has been registered as business in a 1 State; and 2 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 3 borrower seeks forgiveness. 4 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall cancel 6 not more than $17,500 in the aggregate of the loan 7 obligation on a Federal Direct Stafford Loan or a 8 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan that is 9 outstanding. 10 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 11 A loan amount for a Federal Direct Consolidation 12 Loan may be a qualified loan amount for the pur- 13 poses of this subsection only to the extent that such 14 loan amount was used to repay a Federal Direct 15 Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf- 16 ford Loan, or a loan made under section 428 or 17 428H, for a borrower who meets the requirements of 18 subsection (a), as determined in accordance with 19 regulations prescribed by the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall grant loan for- 21 giveness under this section on a first-come, first-served 22 basis, and subject to the availability of appropriations. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5613 IH ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 1 tion shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 2 repayment of a loan.’’. 3 SEC. 4. PUBLICATION AND REPORT. 4 (a) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of Education and 5 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 6 shall each make available, on publicly accessible websites 7 of the Department of Education and the Small Business 8 Administration, respectively, information on the student 9 loan deferment program for qualified entrepreneurs under 10 section 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 11 U.S.C. 1087e(f)), as amended by this Act. 12 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 14 of Education shall submit to Congress a report that in- 15 cludes— 16 (1) an assessment of the progress of the Sec- 17 retary in carrying out the student loan deferment 18 program for qualified entrepreneurs under section 19 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 20 U.S.C. 1087e(f)), as amended by this Act; and 21 (2) a description of any ongoing efforts to in- 22 crease participation in such program. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS